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The Cleveland Cavaliers are travelling down a familiar path as training camp drags on and the regular season approaches.

Similar to the situation they faced with Tristan Thompson a year ago, the Cavaliers have yet to come to terms with unrestricted free agent J.R. Smith on a new contract.

The cases are not exactly alike — Thompson was a restricted free agent and the Cavs likely would have matched any offer he got, and Smith can take his talents anywhere he likes — but there are enough similarities to make it interesting.

The Cavs are far over the salary cap and tax level and will pay about $3 for every $1 on a Smith contract in penalties and might be reluctant to spend exorbitant dollars on the 31-year-old, who would like to triple the $5-million deal he opted out of in the summer.

For Cleveland, it’s Smith or some minimum-value veteran because of their cap situation. For Smith, it’s wait to get big bucks from Cleveland or settle for a mid-level salary, since most teams don’t have the cap room to assume an eight-figure salary.

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Most NBA people think eventually the team and Smith will find middle ground — Thompson signed a five-year, $82 million deal in Cleveland on the eve of last regular season — but there is a game of chicken going on.

And Smith, at least publicly, isn’t putting all his money on Cleveland.

“Yes and no. It depends on how you look at it,” Smith told the website Complex last week. “Financially, you can always go somewhere else. Team morale-wise, there are a few teams that I could see working. There are guys I would like to play with, guys I have played with. Being able to live in that city or a particular place, school systems, kids, family life — [with] free agency, everything comes into play. Before, I could just sit there and be like, ‘I don’t care where I go.’ But now I have the kids, and it’s like, ‘OK, what’s the best fit?’ ”

Help at home for Heat? The new-look Miami Heat — now without Chris Bosh or Dwyane Wade — are going to have to find help somewhere, if only to have capable NBA bodies.

They have one intriguing possibility in Josh McRoberts, if he can stay healthy. He’s on the shelf again, recovering from a broken foot suffered in last year’s playoffs. In two seasons with the Heat, the six-foot-10 power forward has appeared in only 59 regular season games.

“I’m a big white guy who gets hurt all the time,” he said this week. “I wouldn’t like me either.”

Roving ex-Raptors: Most fans know Bismack Biyombo has moved on to Orlando, Luis Scola is in Brooklyn and James Johnson has landed in Miami. But one Raptor from last year has travelled further afield: Jason Thompson has joined the Shandong Bulls of the Chinese League.

Rapid replay: There may not be more video replay review in NBA games this season but what does occur should happen more quickly.

Under a plan expected to be approved by the board of governors next month, the league will let officials in the replay centre in Secaucus, N.J., deal with every play except flagrant fouls or on-court altercations.

The thinking is that by the time on-court officials get to the scorer’s table to check in with the centre, a decision on the play will have already been made.

According to the league, 72 per cent of calls were made at the replay centre last season and that should rise to about 87 per cent in 2016-17.

The Melo cycle: The New York Knicks and Carmelo Anthony could have monster years, if history is any indicator.

Anthony’s supporting cast would appear to better, if Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah can manage to stay healthy, but it’s also a post-Olympic year and that’s when Anthony has had the most success.

In 2013, coming off a gold medal in London, Anthony averaged almost 29 points per game and got the Knicks to the East semifinals, the last playoff success they’ve had.

In 2009, coming off gold in Beijing, he averaged 27 point a game in 16 playoff games and helped the Denver Nuggets get to the West final.

Now, with a Rio gold medal in his possession, he could be primed to put up some big numbers again.

The ring’s the thing: There’ll be a whole lot of new jewellery floating around the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland after opening night.

The players, coaches and basketball staff will get their obligatory diamond-encrusted rings when the defending champion Cavs open their season against the New York Knicks, of course. But Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert has decided to hand out more than 1,000 other rings to everyone from concession workers to Cleveland cops who worked security details at the Cavaliers games.

The cost will top $1 million, according to reports this week.

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